Donald Trump is officially boycotting Thursday's GOP debate since Fox News' Megyn Kelly will be a moderator.
In a stunning climax to his months-long feud with anchor Megyn Kelly, Donald Trump is boycotting Thursday night's GOP debate on Fox News.
Read: Billionaire Donald Trump Stays at Holiday Inn Express in Iowa
Trump lashed out at Kelly on Twitter on Wednesday morning:
I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2016
Trump backed out after Fox released a statement about Trump toying with the idea to boycott.
"We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president - a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the cabinet with his twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings,” said the statement.
Trump fired back at the statement on Twitter saying:
The statement put out yesterday by @FoxNews was a disgrace to good broadcasting and journalism. Who would ever say something so nasty & dumb
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2016
The Trump campaign issued a statement on the boycott on Tuesday: “Mr. Trump knows when to walk away. Roger Ailes and Fox News think they can toy with him, but Mr. Trump doesn't play games.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2016
Pathetic attempt by @foxnews to try and build up ratings for the #GOPDebate. Without me they'd have no ratings! https://t.co/2bx54VKpQh
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2016
Fox News quickly fired back in a statement to Politico, accusing Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski of threatening Kelly.
“In a call on Saturday with a Fox News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn 'had a rough couple days after that last debate' and he 'would hate to have her go through that again.' Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so."
Read: 'Duck Dynasty' Star Willie Robertson Endorses Trump After His Dad Backs Cruz
Kelly responded to the controversy on her show on Tuesday night.
“What's interesting is here is Trump is not used to not controlling things as the chief executive of a large organization. But the truth is, he doesn't get to control the media, and while he's made his position clear about me after that first debate. Roger Ailes made his position clear too.”
Watch: Sarah Palin Gets Bleeped While Campaigning for Trump After Endorsement
